Five tips on how to get the most from your research results

It’s probably been a while since you commissioned customer research into a topic for which you were all keen to find the answers.

In the meantime, you’ve all been so busy organising the research that you may well have lost sight of why it was you commissioned it in the first place.

But at long last you receive the report and read it. And that’s when you either all shake your heads in disbelief about how could you have got it so wrong, or you start to celebrate that you’re clearly on the right track!

Now that you’ve read the report once, it’s time to begin the hard work that will turn the research into outcomes within your organisation.

You can start by thinking about doing one or all of the following five things:

1. Spend 10 seconds and think about whether the results are a surprise. If so why? If they’re what you expected, did you expect good or bad results? Make sure you have as many channels as possible for feedback. If your results are great and everybody loves what your area does, then ask yourself do they fit with the feedback from other channels?

2. Discuss the report with your researcher. They won’t know your business like you do but, if given the opportunity, they will want to know more. A research report is a great way to broaden conversations. It also allows the researcher to contribute ideas and lessons from past experience. Remember they do this for a living.

3. Tell people. Telling people about your results is seldom used, yet it’s the most powerful thing you can do. Prepare a bulletin, update your intranet page, place a note on your email signature or receipt of job ticket. It’s as important to tell internal customers/stakeholders as it is to tell customers. Your staff speak to both, so they can tell people about your progress, be it receiving praise or explaining what the area is doing about its results.

4. Engage your staff in digesting the results. Break your team up and have them pick a piece of the report to review, present and make recommendations on. The team has to own the results. More than anyone, they know where the customer pain points are – they live with them every day.

5. Try not to focus too much on the comments reproduced word for word in the report. Comments may provide the colour and often the humour of many reports, but remember often less than 20% of respondents write a comment, so they shouldn't provide the basis of the findings. Their views can help shed a light on an issue but one comment does not make a crisis.

There are a lot of things to consider once you receive a research report. You can make your task easier by sharing, discussing, and collaborating on the results.For further information on getting the most from your research contact your CSBA Account Manager.

TOP 10 CUSTOMER SERVICE PERFORMERS

1

Southern Rural Water

2

GWM Water

3

Budget Direct

4

Wannon Water

5

Gladstone Regional Council

5

Coliban Water

7

Wodonga City Council

8

North East Water

9

University of Adelaide

9

Surf Coast Shire Council

Top Performers by Industry

1.

Insurance

Budget Direct

2.

Local Government

Gladstone Regional Council

3.

Water

Southern Rural Water

4.

Superannuation

Colonial First State Firstchoice Superannuation Trust

5.

Aid Organisations

Plan Australia

6.

Housing Services

Housing ACT

7.

Tenancy Services

Residential Tenancy Authority QLD

8.

TAFE

North Coast TAFE

9.

Universities

University of Adelaide

10.

Energy

Actew AGL Energy

11.

Motor Manufacturing

Mazda

12.

Banks - Loans

NAB Home Loans

13.

Banks - General

ANZ

14.

Telecommunications

Optus Mobile

Upcoming Events & Programs

Are Sales the new Service?

It is bantered about in business circles and forums, seminars and professional development sessions and yet so few seem to understand the mechanics of Consultative Needs Based Sales and how it works to enable a higher conversion rate and increased sales performance.

Essentially the idea behind needs based sales is that we should ask questions to understand the customer’s needs and then offer them the product or service that best suits. Needs based sales are seen by many organisations as a mechanism to offer the right product to the customer and therefore increase their likelihood to buy.To understand effective needs based sales it is crucial to know that Customer Experience has two key ingredients, the physical and the emotional. The physical is the product, its features and the price. The emotional are the motivators and drivers that influence the customer to want the product and the benefits or assurances they may derive from using it.Many businesses overlook the emotional needs and drivers of the customer within the sales process and still believe they are using a needs based sales process. This then leaves only the features and price to compete with and in a highly commoditised market can leave little to differentiate on. Price is certainly a key consideration for any customer; however trust and peace of mind are even more intrinsic to influencing a buying decision. As the old saying goes ‘we buy from people we like and trust’.Engaging the customer in an open conversation that allows them to express their situation, aspirations and feelings sends a powerful message that your organisation is customer focused. Even when it is not required to win the customer’s business, if you convey a genuine interest in understanding the customer's emotional needs you create a bond that supplants your product and its price which may be the first step towards creating long-term relationships and loyal advocates.Many organisations are now discovering this approach can be applied to both sales and service interactions with significant returns on investment; increased efficiency, customer advocacy and retention. So the big question is Sales the new Service?

CSBA has been engaged to implement Consultative Needs Based Sales models across sales and service functions for a range of clients across a multitude of Industries. The return on investment has seen many clients realising significant increases in Sales, Customer Advocacy and Staff Satisfaction.

For further information on implementation of a Consultative Needs based Sales or Service model within your organisation you can contact Tremayne Murphy 0450 281 008.

Upcoming Events & Programs

Network Program
Members now have the opportunity to participate in a quarterly mystery shopping benchmarking program, specifically for the Network..... Read more

National Program:

Federation Benchmarking Program
CSBA’s Housing Providers benchmarking program supporter by the Federation compares your business against similar businesses, showing specific strengths and areas for improvement across a range of channels.... Read more

The Path from Strategy to Great Customer Experience is via Service Design

At the recent Government Communications Australia Conference in May, Paula Giles (Director of Consulting, CSBA) spoke on 'Reputation and Experience: The Twin Pillars of Customer Centric Organisations'.

We suggest that if you are in the business of enhancing your organisation’s reputation then you must own or influence the customer experience. Our view is that every person operating in the customer service and experience space must be able to clearly show how the service they provide is delivered as promised, consistently and well. Otherwise, how will you enhance reputation, demonstrate performance and add value?

We are currently working with our clients to re-think and redesign the service they provide – by working 'from the outside in’, listening to their customers and helping to redesign their service offer. Otherwise, how will you develop a clear path from strategy to a great customer experience?

Fast Feedback: Mobile Capability for Your Community Events

What if there was a quick and accurate way to find out how people experience your community events so you could then plan and make adjustments to give them an even better experience?

Our live customer experience evaluations can rapidly assess what influences your customers’ experience of your sporting events, exhibitions and venues. We’ll be on the spot to assess your staff and facilities to find out:

Are your staff well presented and friendly and helpful?

Do staff help people find their seats?

Are there any delays for food and drinks or entry tickets? Do queues move quickly?

Is food well presented?

Are facilities, car parks and first aid station well signposted and easy to find?

Do customers park and leave the car park smoothly?

We enter live results via tablets into our unique data collection system for immediate analysis. We’ll report the results to you within 48 hours so you can plan and make the resource adjustments necessary to improve customer experience and satisfaction.